High School

You remove a baked potato from a 400°F oven and place it on the counter in your 67°F kitchen. After 20 minutes, you measure the temperature of the potato to be 128°F. What will the temperature of the potato be after 26 minutes?

Answer :

The temperature of the potato after 26 minutes will be approximately 114.4°F.

What will the temperature of the potato be after 26 minutes?

To solve this problem, we can use the concept of thermal equilibrium. When an object is at a different temperature than its surroundings, it will tend to reach thermal equilibrium by transferring heat to or from its surroundings.

In this case, the baked potato is initially at 400°F and is placed in a 67°F kitchen. It will start to cool down as it transfers heat to the surrounding air. After 20 minutes, it has cooled down to 128°F, but it is still hotter than the surrounding air, so it will continue to cool down.

The rate at which the potato cools down depends on the temperature difference between the potato and the surrounding air, as well as other factors such as the potato's size and shape. However, we can make some simplifying assumptions to estimate the potato's temperature after 26 minutes.

Assuming that the rate of cooling is roughly constant over this time period, we can estimate the change in temperature as follows:

In the first 20 minutes, the potato's temperature dropped from 400°F to 128°F, a difference of 272°F.

Therefore, the average rate of cooling during this time period was;

= 272°F / 20 minutes = 13.6°F per minute.

If we assume that the rate of cooling remains constant, we can estimate that the potato's temperature will drop another 13.6°F in the next 6 minutes.

Therefore, the temperature of the potato after 26 minutes will be approximately 128°F - 13.6°F = 114.4°F.

Learn more about cooling temperature here: https://brainly.com/question/13748261
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